Exoneree Sues Innocence Project Lawyer

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A DNA exoneree unhappy with a $1 million attorney's fee is accusing his ex-lawyer of participating in an illegal kickback scheme with an Innocence Project of Texas official.

Steven Phillips, who spent nearly 25 years in prison for a sexual assault and burglary he did not commit, amended a lawsuit filed in September to add Jeff Blackburn as a defendant.

Phillips alleges that Blackburn, chief counsel of the Texas innocence group, steered cases to a Lubbock attorney who successfully lobbied the Texas Legislature to increase compensation to the wrongly convicted.

That attorney is Kevin Glasheen, who represents 13 wrongly convicted Texans receiving millions of dollars in state compensation. Glasheen said Wednesday he is not paying Blackburn any money in Phillips' case.